Moret’s assertion that the intrigue which brought about his fall was engineered by the Ultramontanes received confirmation from the Correo Catalan, a Carlist paper, which committed itself to the following prophecy:
“Canalejas will govern without altering the Cabinet until the autumn. Before the re-opening of the Cortes there will be ministerial changes. And in order to make compensation to Señor Moret a couple of unconditional friends of his will enter the Government. In the autumn Maura will have become tired of acting as guardian to Canalejas, who will fall irremediably. The Maurist restoration will be inaugurated next year.”
Working-class opinion on the situation was quite definite. For a day or two satisfaction was expressed, because Canalejas was reputed to be devoted to the interests of the people. But no sooner was suspicion aroused that his elevation to the Premiership had been engineered by the Ultramontanes than the poor were up in arms: the mere suggestion that the Jesuits were at work being sufficient to revive all the irritation and anxiety that Moret had succeeded in allaying.
“Canalejas talks a great deal, and we have long looked upon him as our friend,” a journeyman mason remarked to me. “But here we are again with everything in a state of confusion, and work in every direction waiting while our employers are busy with their politics. We shall get nothing done now till things have quieted down, so I don’t see what advantage it is to us to have Canalejas in power.”
| GENERAL MARINA. | SEÑOR CANALEJAS. |
| Commander-in-Chief at Melilla. | Leader of the Liberal Democrats. |
[To face page [244].
“If it is true that Canalejas is in league with the Jesuits to bring Maura back, there will be trouble,” said another man. “We will not have Maura ruining the country again just when it was beginning to pick up. I would rather shoot him myself. The poor can’t live under Maura, so I should lose nothing by killing him, even if I paid for it with my life.”
A woman burst out crying when she heard her husband talking about Maura.